Could using the wrong oil say automotive vs motorcycle oil cause an 80ci EVO to smoke slightly ? Didn't have the issue till a recent oil change when I made a NOOB mistake and bought regular oil. Here to hoping Im not looking at a ring job in the near future !!!

 

That shouldn't cause a problem. Many on here run their bikes a long while on plain automotive oil. What weight is it? You should at least use 20w50.

 

I've used engine car oil before. Didn't smoke. Foamed, had clatter, but no smoke.

 

The only problem might just be a smoking engine, but should cause NO damage.

Remember the engine is air cooled in your bike, therefore the piston,ring to cylinder wall clearance is greater then in a liquid cooled engine. But if a quality engine oil is used the lubrication properties will be adequate. After the engine comes up to operating temperature it would even stop smoking(maybe).

If you decide to continue to run this oil until next oil change look for high oil consumption, if not just add the proper 20W-50 after draining, I wouldn't even do an oil filter change if you changed it this time.

 

I'm just gonna do a fluid change and leave the filter. I did use 20w 50 oil but it was the cheap OReilly brand that was on sale. I picked up 4 qts of good name brand oil this go round. So fingers crossed we shall see.

 

Using 20w50 auto oil will not cause the engine to smoke, 20w50 is the proper viscosity grade...

I used regular 20w50 in my 1989 Evo up until about 2 years ago (when autozone had a sale on Castrol M/C oil for 2 bucks per quart, bought a stack of the stuff).

Many people use auto oil in their motorcycles without issue, but most of them don`t read internet forums so they don`t know their engines will fall apart...

Auto oil will work fine in an Evo.

 

Ok gotta ask, what the heck is automotive oil compared to a bike oil? I've been using castrol 20/50 for years with no issues that I know of.

 

I guess it might be due to some weird additive in the cheap oil....
Let us know what happens after you put the good oil in.

 

My bike sat Uncranked for 2 years so I'm thinking I have a sludge issue as well as most likely stuck rings on the front cylinder. Got the right oil and Lucas oil treatment to hopefully clear up issues. Thanks for all the input.

2W1L

 

It woulda been nice if you had said that in the first post.
I hope everything works out for you.